{"id":1916418,"date":"2023-04-18T23:57:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T03:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-need-to-stop-being-cowards-on-abortion\/"},"modified":"2023-04-19T00:02:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T04:02:05","slug":"republicans-need-to-stop-being-cowards-on-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-need-to-stop-being-cowards-on-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans Need To Stop Being Cowards On Abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frepublicans-need-to-stop-being-cowards-on-abortion%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1916418&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>How many voters understand that the Democratic Party supports legalized abortion through <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/09\/27\/all-house-democrats-but-one-vote-for-ghastly-abortion-bill\/\">all nine months of pregnancy<\/a> on demand for virtually any reason? How many voters know this position <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/fact-checker\/wp\/2017\/10\/09\/is-the-united-states-one-of-seven-countries-that-allow-elective-abortions-after-20-weeks-of-pregnancy\/\">aligns<\/a> with only six other countries in the world \u2014 three of them, not incidentally, being North Korea, Vietnam, and China?<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Democrats want to pass a federal law overturning the democratic will of states that ban <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2022\/05\/how-the-democrats-abortion-bill-enshrines-a-right-to-abort-baby-girls-because-they-are-girls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sex-selective abortions<\/a> or the dismembering of the post-viable unborn or require parental or guardian notification for minors before getting abortions. Democrats want to allow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/05\/17\/states-expand-abortions-flood-of-patients-00032815\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">non-doctors<\/a> to perform abortions (probably because it\u2019s not medical care) while at the same time stripping real medical workers of their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/democrat-bill-force-christian-doctors-abortions-religious-beliefs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">conscience rights<\/a> by compelling them to participate in the procedure or lose their jobs. Democrats want to eliminate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/poll-strong-majority-of-americans-back-the-hyde-amendment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">popular<\/a> Hyde Amendment that stops the federal government from funding abortions with taxpayer dollars. They believe abortion is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/05\/10\/yellen-banning-abortion-damaging-to-economy-00031339\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vital<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2014\/09\/24\/ruth-bader-ginsburg-really-wants-poor-people-to-stop-having-babies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ensuring<\/a> that poorer Americans have <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/stacey-abrams-claims-abortion-restrictions-are-behind-inflation-concerns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fewer children<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-820632075\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e6caa3bef9b0034ee099c06c93929447 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e6caa3bef9b0034ee099c06c93929447\"><\/div>\n<p>Now, maybe a majority of voters aren\u2019t aware of Democrats\u2019 maximalist positions because the media endlessly <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/02\/pro-abortion-radicals-are-lying-about-red-state-laws-to-scare-americans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lies<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/09\/22\/gop-claim-that-democrats-support-abortion-up-moment-birth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">obfuscates<\/a> them. And maybe pollsters rarely ask useful questions on the topic \u2014 offering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2022\/05\/abortion-polls-are-garbage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">absurdly vague<\/a> queries like \u201cdo you support abortion access\u201d or should \u201cabortion be legal\u201d rather than should it be legal until the \u201cdue date\u201d or \u201cfor any reason\u201d or \u201cafter the baby is viable\u201d or \u201cfor sex selection\u201d \u2014 because the answers are a lot more complicated than they\u2019d like.<\/p>\n<p>And, maybe, after the shock of <em>Roe <\/em>being overturned \u2014 treated by Democrats as if it had been chiseled into magical stone tablets over the past 50 years \u2014 the energy and passion of the debate will temporarily reside on the pro-abortion side. And, maybe, if every voter knew all the facts, it still wouldn\u2019t matter. Abortion is a complex and emotional issue.<\/p>\n<p>None of that excuses the inability, or aversion, of national conservatives to make a coherent and compelling pro-life case. Sometimes it feels like Republicans are more terrified by the <em>Dobbs <\/em>decision than pro-abortionists. Even if pollsters were right about the unpopularity of abortion restrictions, there is this crazy thing that politicians occasionally engage in called \u201cpersuasion.\u201d Rather than just chasing around voters for approval, this entails convincing them with arguments.<\/p>\n<p>The problem, it seems, is that too many in the GOP accept the media\u2019s concern trolling or listen to risk-averse advice of the consulting class. Take Wisconsin. On the same day Republicans took a supermajority in the legislature, Janet Protasiewicz beat conservative Dan Kelly by 10 percentage points to flip the state\u2019s Supreme Court. Virtually every outlet treated the race, in which 36 percent of Wisconsin voters showed up, as a national referendum on abortion. Anonymous consultants were recruited to offer off-the-record comments voicing their deep concern about the deleterious effects of the abortion issue. \u201cThe drubbing Republicans took in Wisconsin this week revealed how harmful the issue of abortion still is to the party \u2014 and will likely remain through 2024,\u201d Politico <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/04\/06\/wisconsin-gop-abortion-restrictions-00090888\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a>. \u201cWisconsin Supreme Court election sends message on abortion rights,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2023\/04\/05\/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">says<\/a> the Washington Post. And so on.<\/p>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a0346b1d4a49342de3bb3239a0d8a365 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a0346b1d4a49342de3bb3239a0d8a365\"><\/div>\n<p>Weird how this dynamic only works in one direction. In 2020, Brain Kemp, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/nation\/georgias-republican-gov-kemp-set-to-sign-abortion-ban\">signed<\/a> a heartbeat bill limiting abortion to the first six weeks a year earlier, easily defeated media darling Stacey Abrams to win the Georgia governorship (in a state that Donald Trump also lost.) Abrams <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theroot.com\/abortions-and-gun-laws-center-stacey-abrams-campaign-ad-1849002596\">made<\/a> abortion, along with guns, the central issue of her campaign, carpet-bombing the state with ads. In 2018, Terry McAuliffe also attempted to make abortion the dominant issue of his campaign against Glenn Youngkin. At the time, two of the Washington Post\u2019s most dedicated partisan flaks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2021\/09\/02\/get-ready-our-first-big-test-new-politics-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">promised<\/a> that the race was \u201cour first big test of the new politics of abortion.\u201d Well, Youngkin, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2022\/12\/16\/youngkin-abortion-ban-budget-proposal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">supports<\/a> 15-week abortion limits, won. Alas, there were no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2023\/04\/05\/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">four-bylined <\/a>handwringing deep dives from the Post about abortion undermining Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Georgia and Virginia are swing states. Ohio, where Mike DeWine signed a six-week ban in 2019 and won the state by 10 points in 2022, was one not long ago, as well. This is the same state in which pro-life JD Vance easily beat \u201cmoderate\u201d Tim Ryan. But Ohio and Virginia teach nothing about abortion. Only the Wisconsin Supreme Court race matters.<\/p>\n<p>This week, the governor of Florida and prospective presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/florida-abortion-ban-approved-c9c53311a0b2426adc4b8d0b463edad1#:~:text=TALLAHASSEE%2C%20Fla.,he%20had%20signed%20the%20legislation.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed<\/a> a six-week ban on abortion. One imagines DeSantis will be just as popular among Republicans in his state since the bill passed overwhelmingly in the Florida Assembly. Of course, conventional wisdom says this hurts his presidential chances.<\/p>\n<p>Every GOP president since Ronald Reagan has taken a pro-life position. Even in a post-Dobbs world, the idea that abortion is going to be the determinative factor in the presidential race is likely wishful thinking. Now that Roe has been overturned, the president has even less say over the future of abortion. Abortion has become a state issue. That\u2019s what irks Dems.<\/p>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a9e8862d23b3b00cf2f52d8d9d7b05c6 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a9e8862d23b3b00cf2f52d8d9d7b05c6\"><\/div>\n<p>Whatever the case, the Republican nominee doesn\u2019t need to impress California voters. They need to convince social conservatives in Virginia, Ohio, and Florida to go out and vote. Does anyone really think DeSantis would be better off politically if he vetoed a pro-life bill? Running from the abortion conversation, as so many Republicans seem to do, creates the impression they don\u2019t really believe in their own stated position. Quite often, that\u2019s probably the case. If you\u2019re going to run as a pro-lifer, allowing the opposition to define your beliefs makes little sense. Especially when making a rational and moral case for protecting viable life, at the very least, isn\u2019t particularly difficult \u2014 certainly not when contrasted with the left\u2019s extremism. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Then again, if every Republican lost every race in the country over abortion, it still wouldn\u2019t make killing human beings for convenience any less of a moral abomination or the fight to stop it any less important. A majority position isn\u2019t, by default, moral or decent \u2014 quite the contrary. And meaningful political fights aren\u2019t predicated on short-term gains. Overturning Roe took 50 years. The political fight over abortion might take even longer.<\/p>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-af7cdc8ce73e1f9931038ce63caa1429 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-af7cdc8ce73e1f9931038ce63caa1429\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">   David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist, a nationally syndicated columnist, a Happy Warrior columnist at National Review, and author of five books\u2014the most recent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Eurotrash-America-Reject-Failed-Continent\/dp\/0063066017\/\">Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent<\/a>. He has appeared on Fox News, C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News and radio talk shows across the country. Follow him on Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidharsanyi\/\">@davidharsanyi<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/abortion\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Abortion<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/dan-kelly\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Dan Kelly<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/glenn-youngkin\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Glenn Youngkin<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/hyde-amendment\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Hyde Amendment<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/janet-protasiewicz\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Janet Protasiewicz<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mike-dewine\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Mike DeWine<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ron-desantis\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ron DeSantis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/terry-mcauliffe\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Terry McAuliffe<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/tim-ryan\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Tim Ryan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How many voters understand that the Democratic Party supports legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy on demand for virtually any reason? How many voters know this position aligns with only six other countries in the world \u2014 three of them, not incidentally, being North Korea, Vietnam, and China? Indeed, Democrats want to pass<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":1916420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[4310,16229,3756],"class_list":["post-1916418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-abortion","tag-cowards","tag-republicans"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1916418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1916420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1916418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1916418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1916418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}